True Strengths and Weaknesses
by Rocketbaby
Summary: Is Bakura really the strong indestructable spirit he poses to be or is it a facade he puts on at the expense of his weak light Ryou
1. Eyes of Innocence

Chapter 1 - Eyes of Innocence  
  
**Bakura's POV**  
  
I looked down at my lighter self; my reincarnation. I snorted. "Pathetic." He looks like me, has the same silvery long white mane, his body structure, well except that I'm a bit bigger and firmer than this lanky counterpart, and his eyes, those disgustingly large brown orbs staring at mine which are a bit smaller and darkener than those bright ones he has. Once again for the hundredth time for the night he begs me to stop; I smirk as I see him retreating to the wall, cowering before me. By RA I hate him, his innocence; his. why the hell wouldn't he fight back.It just shows how weak he really is. I grab him by his blue jersey and pull him up to me with both hands. He still doesn't fight back instead he shivers in my grasp, his hands holding mine, his feet barely touching the ground, his eyes, his soft brown eyes staring directly into mine, wavering from fear. I growl angrily as I fling him back into the same wall he was only a few seconds cowering against. I sneer as I hear his battered body hit the wall with a sickening thud.  
  
**Ryou's POV**  
  
The moment I slammed against the wall, I felt as though every bone in my body broke. I screamed as the air was knocked out of me, and then unceremoniously crumbled in front of my Yami, my limp hair sprawling at his feet. I laid there gasping for air, my tears falling unto the glassy blue tiles as I prayed that that dark blanket would cover me and bring me out of this torture and give me some temporary release. That release, that was given to me on many an occasion such as this. It seemed as if my prayers would be answered, as I was presently on that brink between consciousness and unconsciousness. I was about to slip into that pool of dark, when suddenly.  
  
**Bakura's POV**  
  
"To hell mortal you're gonna get away from me that easily" I snarled as I thrust my heavy black boot into his side, hearing him cry out in pain and clutch his broken body gave me some twisted sense of pleasure. Now that he was fully awake I thought, my game could continue. I dragged my smaller self by the hair hearing his agonizing cries, his pleas, one hand still clutching his middle, the other gripping my hand, tears poured from his face, sliding down his bruised face. Such a pitiful sight, I shove him against the wall, still holding his by his hair, he is still struggling against me, fighting a losing battle. I slap his other hand away and release his hair, and with the same hand before he falls again I catch him by under his chin. My hold isn't tight, just tight enough to hold this fool up. The mortal looked away from me as I released him. "Stand up" I barked as I notice him lapsing. He knew better than to disobey my orders and fumbled against the wall using it for support.  
  
***Ryou's POV**  
  
I lowered my eyes to him daring not to disobey his order, I knew better than that, but I could feel myself slipping, my eyes closed once again, and I felt a sharp slap across my face and winced feeling the sting after it. Gently I feel his hand again, this time it wasn't painful, just a gentle caress against my cheek, the same cheek he slapped. I sucked in my breath, as I feel his fingers gently play against my skin and I closed my eyes, my held in breath slowly flowed out of my mouth as I began to lean in his hand, hesitantly at first but eventually I was whimpering against his touch ~why couldn't he be more like this~ I mistakenly allowed my thoughts to stray ~why does he have to constantly hurt me so much~ My worse mistake was looking up at him.  
  
**Bakura's POV**  
  
I heard his thoughts wonder to my mind and smirked I was contemplating weather or not I should inflict him any a more pain as yet as I myself was enjoying the tenderness of his skin when he looked up at me again with those eyes, no matter how soft they were that innocence pierced my dark soul. I was suddenly very pissed "Because you're a weak, pathetic, mortal you fool" I snarled as I took my sharp nails and dug them mercilessly into his tender flesh, that same flesh I was enjoying earlier drawing blood he yelped and backed from me into that same wall I chuckled wanting to see how far back into that wall he could possibly go. His hand holding that injured cheek. I licked the blood from my fingers and he watched me petrified by my actions. I gave him a smug look then his eyes were transfixed unto mine. I stared hypnotized almost by them, until releasing a painful blow, right in his face, my target; his left eye, followed by his right, he slumped back. I knew damn well that I had knocked him out and I blamed him; he never should have looked at me with those eyes, never. Turning to looked at the clock it realized that it was only 1 am in the morn in the next six hours he'd better be ready for school not that I cared that much for his education. I just didn't want his mortal friends coming up by his door step especially that short Yugi kid. 


	2. Ryou's Pain

Chapter 2 - Ryou's Pain  
  
**Ryou's POV**  
  
I didn't know how long I was out for, but I welcomed that fact that I was. To me it seemed like only a few minutes, but in reality it was 5 hours. I was harshly brought back into the world by a splash of cold water that my Yami used to wake me up. I screamed what a wonderful way to greet the day I thought as I huddled my drenched broken self. My body was numb with that rude realization of how much pain I was in and that cold water didn't help one bit, not that it was meant to. I tried to open my eyes only to shut them immediately afterwards, not only did it sting badly but everything was sensitive even the dimmest of lights, I managed after a minute or two to squint whimpering a bit as I did so.  
  
The harsh words of my Yami over my head and in my mind, reminded me that I had to go to school, cursing at the fact that if I didn't my friends would come and disturb him, and he didn't want to do anything to drastic that would give him the trouble of digging four graves in the backyard, though I knew it was a lie. He would welcome the opportunity but he had his own personal reasons for not doing so. The last thing I heard him say before he left me was something about him wanting his breakfast before 6:15 which was only about five minutes away and cleaning up this water mess before I left.  
  
Fifteen minutes later I managed to make Yami breakfast while I had nothing but a tall glass of fruit juice, I couldn't eat presently though I felt quite hungry and now I was stripping off my damp clothes as carefully as I could manage, trying to ease up on the cuts and bruises that my Yami generously bestowed upon me, my pale body littered in blacks, reds, yellows and even blues I observed as I glanced in the bathroom mirrors before me.. Even my eyes were coloured...I sighed softly as I entered the showers easing the temperature to a nice lukewarm, the water sprinkled unto my marks old and new, causing me to hiss in pain until my small body became accustomed, the worse part came when I had to use the soap, that took a few good minutes by itself.  
  
Eventually I came out, and my whole body was red, I swore even my hair had changed to a light pink. I dried my skin squeezed out my hair in the sink and opened the drawer beneath it pulling out a makeup set. As I began to apply the light brown powder to my face, in an attempt to hide those hideous dealings I realized how good a makeup artist I've become. I laughed humourlessly to myself as I added more to the areas around my eyes hiding as much of the black as possible, trying not to make it too thick as and hereby noticeable, my Yami never made this task easy for me. In the end I looked like somebody who didn't get enough sleep, and as for the scratch mark on my face well, I could easily make up some excuse that some crazy cat had scratched me. As I was putting away my set I found my whole body felt hot, yes I knew I just came out of a relatively warm bath but..."heh I worry too much" I told myself, shaking my head as I wrapped the towel around me and went and changed in my room. I was out soon enough in my usual school uniform heading down the stairs towards the door to leave when I something grab my hair and I screamed as I was pulled down those flights of stairs to the corner I woke up from, and then was brutally dropped on the floor.  
  
"Dammit Ryou I told you to clean up YOUR mess" Bakura snarled at me as he shoved my face into the water, like a master to his dog, my work coming off my face. "I..I.I'm sorry Ya..am..mmi.I.." I stammered only to receive a harsh blow across my face "What do you believe that I'm one of those idiotic friends of yours?..Where the hell is your respect boy..or did you forget that to?" He yelled angrily at me as he pushed my whole body into the water "Ma..aster I'm sorry sir, I'll clean up my mess..plesase.." I managed to cry out as before he kicked me in the ribs, leaving me, cursing me in his native tongue as he left the room. I laid there crying in the water holding myself, and after a minute or so I heard him bark "Stop your damn snivelling mortal and get that mess cleaned." 


	3. Home Alone

Chapter 3 - Home Alone  
  
**Bakura's POV**  
  
"That mortal," I muttered angrily to myself as I watched him leave minutes after cleaning "Won't even raise a hand in defence to protect himself, what a weakling, a dolt, a fool. Is this supposed to be part of this wretched curse, not only to be locked in a ring for all eternity but also to have a weakling such as this as my other half?" I snarled angrily, I swore to all the gods, if this was supposed to be a joke HA HA it definitely didn't amuse me, those sick gods of RA and RA himself I grovelled angrily as I positioned myself in front this picture moving, noise maker, an invention of this millennium that held my interest sometimes for times upon end, until that boy showed back up on the front step. I was tempted more than one occasion to lock him outside for a day, but what fun would that be? maybe after a few minutes yes, but for a day? I'd eventually go bored.  
  
I flipped the as he called it channels by using this black device that by some magic allowed me to switch these pictures by the press of a button; I swore if this magical black device was usable in my time and could activate anything I pointed at, I would have been more powerful than Yami. I would have switched his position to mine before I was the renowned tomb raider, to that of the simple slave, the slave life I've lived under his harsh rule for too many years of my life, building his burial grounds wasting away in that stinging sun as he duelled in his games and lived in his luxurious palaces. I swore that would all change when I started my new livelihood as tomb robber to get my revenge on the pharaoh by stealing all his valuables he would need in the afterlife so he'd be forever cursed for wasting me away like that only to be eventually dragged along with him in these blasted millennium items and appear five thousand years into the future and meet him once again as the spirit of a shrimp of a kid at least I thought Bakura didn't look as pathetic.  
  
I snickered slightly watching how these three female characters with huge eyes just destroyed some monster one hundred times their height. Powerpuff Girls I believed they were called, I favoured the green one as she could kick ass and had the attitude to match but oddly enough I had a liking for the blue blonde one, she was cute when she was angry but as for the red one she could go to hell, reminded me too much of that blasted Yami. This show was one of my secret obsessions I made sure NO ONE knew about, the unlucky one would find his soul trapped in the Shadow Realm before he dare take another breath.  
  
The show finished a few minutes later much to my disappointment and I decided to go into Ryou's room, suddenly the box didn't seem to be that entertaining anymore, and thought that maybe his drawers would provide me with some interest. I opened the lowest one and began my rampage through his belongings, throwing out clothes here and there not caring where they fell; as my search went deeper I found something that was deep under all the clothes. It was a picture laying face down. I picked it up and turned it around all I could do was stare. It was a picture of the two of us, Ryou and me. The two of us sharing this picture together, he was waving, while I was playing in his hair braiding it to be exact.this picture we took while we were in England.. About two years ago, no care in the world. It was just the two of us... no Yami..no Yugi..no other friends. It was just Ryou and I together in England. It was taken by a soul sucker duplicator that froze the duplicated souls into pictures, but he called it an automatic camera so no one even then knew that I existed. Ryou was all to myself. "Damn fool this is your entire fault" I growled angrily before dumping the picture aside leaving the room in its messy state. Sudden anger took over me and all I wanted to do was destroy something.maybe I thought maybe when he reaches home.I'll teach him, it's after all his fault for the way things are now and not like how it was in England. 


	4. Uncomfortable Situations

Author's Note: Yeah I know I'm a silent one sorry for not all the interaction I'm really kinda new at this.. Guess I should have stated earlier that this was my first Yu-Gi-Oh fic staring only two of my favourite characters the others being Seto, Mokuba, Joey and at times Yami Yugi. Hope the story wasn't too confusing and I would love to thank all those who have been reviewing my story so far. You guys are very inspiring THANK YOU VERY MUCH and all positive criticism is very welcomed anything to improve for YOU my readers. And sorry for taking so long to update I have upcoming exams I've got to study for.  
  
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Chapter 4 - Cornered  
  
**Ryou's POV**  
  
I managed to fix my hair, my clothes and my make up, I also managed to reach to school fifteen minutes late and I therefore I also managed again to get detention for the second time this week as soon as I tried to slip into class. There was a fit of giggles from all the students when my teacher pronounced the punishment for my tardiness, well except from my friends Yugi, Joey, Tristan and Tea who all gave me sympathetic glances, Seto just ignored me and returned to whatever he was doing. I covered my face with my silver hair as I waited for my teacher to allow me to go my seat, he did so after threatening me that if I came late again he would report me to the principal. I sat in my seat quietly for the whole period; it was English so I didn't have to pay as much attention as my other subjects. I felt miserable and cold as my clothes were still damp and so was my hair, my whole body ached especially my midsection. ~Why did he have to start so early in the morning especially before school? ~ I asked myself as I stared down at my books I had just pulled out. I sighed softly as I laid a hand around my stomach and rested my hand on my forehead, I didn't dare draw any more attention to myself by placing my head on my desk. A tired sensation fell over me and the only time I realized I was asleep was when I felt something poke me. It was Yugi, waking me up from my momentary slumber. It was just the both of us in the room, seemed as if everyone left already including the teacher. Thank goodness he woke me up or I would have been late for my other class. He told me to meet the others in our usual liming*(1) spot at lunch time behind the school, under the big, old oak tree. I agreed to this and was soon on my way to a double period of History.  
  
"Hey Ryou" Joey greeted me in his loud friendly way as usual, I looked up and flashed him as smile as I headed towards the tree where the group had already assembled. I sat down as painlessly as possible next to Tristan placing my lunch on the mat which Tea always and generously provided for us. The conversation started with Duel Monsters as it usually did, followed by Joey and Tristan arguing about something quite trivial. I wasn't quite paying attention to them or anything in particular but instead to the pain rippling through my entire body. I stared down at my food playing in the mashed potato mush with my fork, just like this morn I couldn't eat and I sighed as I raked the fork over the top leaving behind some trails. I couldn't help wonder about my Yami.. ~In England we were inseparable the two of us, he allowed no one to lay a hand on me. My parents didn't have to, well at least my father who was always flying off somewhere, my mother, I can't remember how she looked, well except with the help of old photographs.~ I sighed again, wondering how many times I did that just for the day alone, must have set some sort of record or something.  
  
My thoughts were soon interrupted by Yugi calling my name, actually I missed the first two times he did so and now the whole group was watching me oddly. "What's the mater Yugi?" I asked the smaller boy "Are you alright Ryou I called you two times before? Is something wrong?" I blinked at him ~was I that obvious?~ "You look a bit pale.are you sick?" he questioned again as he outstretched his hand and felt for my temperature only to comment that I was a bit warmer than the supposed body temperature.. I shook my head "No Yugi I'm not sick.. Must be a bit warm that's all" I gave him a soft smile "Are you sure Ryou.your eyes.you look worse than usual." Joey observed leaning closer to me as he studied my face, making me push back unto the tree trunk, which resulted in a sharp string of pain bolting throughout my body system. I had to bite down on my lower lip to hide my soft whimper, as I stared wide eyed at him. By all the Gods Egyptian to Hindu I was scared, I swore my whole body was shaking.~Did my crash course in makeup artistry work, or was it a complete failure~ As the blonde leaned closer observing me more I felt like a cornered rabbit, no chance of escape...I couldn't swallow anything not even my saliva, to soothe my sudden parched throat. "What's that.?" his fingers about to touch the scratch Bakura gifted me with.  
  
**No POV** "Ahh Joey Stop that you making the boy scared stiff" Tristan growled as he pulled back his buddy roughly. "Tristan I wasn't doing him anything just checking him out...he looks a bit pale and." He puffed glaring at his friend soon to be his ever so often temporary enemy. "Dammit Joey he's always a bit pale, he's British isn't he?" Before the other could respond the school bell rang.  
  
**Ryou's POV**  
  
~Thank Gods~ I thought silently to myself as I promptly stood up ignoring the aches and pains "Hey. Thanks for inviting me guys. bye don't want to be late for my other classes now bye" I immediately excused myself as I dashed towards the building.  
  
**No POV**  
  
"Look what you did I told yah that you scared him.." Tristan puffed crossing his arms at an annoyed Joey.  
  
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Liming: A Trinidadian slang for 'Hanging Out' or so forth. 


	5. Going Home

Author's Note: Okies I'm back exams are through and well Heh no school till whenever : so that means I'll be able to finish my fanfic hopefully soon and start new ones.Hip Hip Hooray Everybody!!  
  
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Chapter 5 - Going Home  
  
**Ryou's POV**  
  
Detention some people think of it as unfair punishment, a horrid punishment or a splotch in their school record, I simply see it as a delay of the inevitable. I was the only one in this classroom well except for some teacher who was being overpaid to cock his feet up on a desk and read the comics from a local newspaper..  
  
The second hand on the clock seemed to move like the minute hand the minute like the hour and the hour hand just seemed stuck, wouldn't be surprised if one of those mean teachers glued the thing with ego-stick. Sighing I closed my eyes resting my head on my hands I wasn't even allowed to do homework just stare at the clock as time dragged by, don't get me wrong.I'm not complaining perfect time to get some much needed sleep.  
  
Soon enough the teacher towered over me hitting the desk, damn sleep the remedy to spin the clock I could have sworn I had just closed my eyes at the beginning of the session only for the glue to become all loose and the hour hand to fly by.detention was over. Mr. Harris exited the room after threatening me about something. I was too tired to care at the moment. I threw my bag over my shoulders only to wince softly; yes I remembered that fresh bruise a little too late.  
  
**Bakura's POV**  
  
"What the hell is taking that good for nothing so damn long...?" I muttered darkly, obviously not in the mood to take one of his excuses. It was either his nerdy friends, traffic or something he called 'detention' a new excuse he made up this week.I swear that damn boy he's going to pay for keeping me waiting this damn long.  
  
**Ryou's POV**  
  
I wonder what takes longer going to school in a body rattled in pain, rushing to reach early so that one would miss detention and get home early so that a Yami wouldn't beat the stuffing out of you or going home after detention still in a body of pain rushing home though you're still very late so that your Yami wouldn't beat the stuffing out of you, well not that much of a stuffing though but you still get assaulted anyways? I never really figured out the answer to that one but I know that the end result would always be stuffing getting beaten out of you one way or the other.  
  
I looked up at the traffic light taking its very cool time to change colour. Heh everything takes its cool time when you're in a rush *(or the rain just happens to come down after one goes to the hairdresser)*. Shaking the dizziness I felt in my head due to the lack of food and sleep not to mention the daily assaults battered on me on top of that I decided to take my chance across the road. Some people would prefer to go elsewhere if some thing like this was happening to them the assaults I mean but strangely I just seem to have this magnetic pull towards my home, the darkest place in my life right now, oddly though I didn't mind.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ * Yes that happens x.X  
  
HEHEHEHEH I'll stop here for now look forward for the next chapter coming soon I hope depending on how life turns but let's be optimistic shall we.. anyways read and review and remember good criticism is welcomed thankies : 


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